Rochester Mayor Lovely, shown during a meeting with the Editorial Board in May 2013, should have better considered public reaction to her hiring of a relative.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren is entitled to feel safe as she goes about her new duties - indeed, she cannot effectively run the city otherwise. So a security detail is a reasonable addition to the mayor's staff. Still, her decision to appoint a relative to one of two well-paying slots invited public criticism and opened the mayor to charges of nepotism.

Warren must show better judgment, and more fully consider the appearances her actions project as she moves forward in her new role.

A layer of protection for Rochester's first African-American female mayor is more than appropriate. Look no further than public postings on social media sites like Craigslist to gauge the level of animosity directed at Warren: Angry, ugly, racist and at times threatening. Too, Warren confirmed Monday she has received anonymous threats directly.

That past Rochester mayors had only sporadic security is beside the point. Upstate mayors in Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse have, or in the past have had, security details. And the approximately $140,000 for the two positions is coming from the mayor's office budget - which is down overall due in part to a new staff whose members, generally, are paid less than their predecessors.

Still, Warren's decision to tap her uncle, Reggie Hill, for one of the temporary slots ignored obvious appearances. That he reports directly to the city's deputy mayor may satisfy the city's nepotism policy, but it doesn't satisfy critics. As a well-respected Rochesterian and former State Police investigator who worked security for past governors, Hill is certainly qualified. And as a relative, he has Warren's trust - no small matter in a security detail. But to the public he's first and foremost her uncle.

Warren could have avoided much of the current criticism by appointing someone else temporarily and encouraging Hill to apply for the permanent position when it is formally posted in a couple of weeks.

Too, that a speeding Hill was stopped on the state Thruway - but not ticketed - while driving Warren home from last week's State of the State address adds to the narrative, unfairly or not, of an administration playing by its own rules.

Remember, in just her first week on the job Warren helped get the $177 million Citygate project back on track. By minimizing future missteps, she can better invest her leadership skills on similar matters.